As I start to write this article it’s very nearly summer solstice on a Sunday evening. The tides of the seasons have broughtus the longest day of the year in combination with a euphoric dose of summer. You can sense that the city is abuzz with that collective call to be outside and charge forward with arms open into summer mode.

As you get out that planner to make plans for the string of summer weekends, I’d like to get you excited about a very unique, yogic event that should definitely be on your list. The Utsam-Witness (www.utsam-witness.ca) project is an incredible chance to experience first hand the beautiful land we live on and have a unique cultural exchange. More than that it’s a chance to live your yoga off the mat. Come and you are sure to take part in a powerful experience of seeing yourself from a new perspective. It’s all about creating an integral life filled with new experiences that help you grow and evolve. Just as asana practice reveals to us a great sense of intimate connection within our bodies and minds, taking part in a Witness weekend is a lifestyle practice to build and reconnect to a greater sense of union between our daily lives and the larger community around us. All that, and freakin’ fun - how could you say no!!?


In essence, each Utsam-Witness weekend is an organized weekend event, with one night camping weekend in the Elaho Valley just North of Squamish. The participants are members of the public who are joined by a group of volunteers and people from the Squamish nation to form a temporary family of between 30 to 100+ people. We spend two days living on a gorgeous sand bar nestled between mountain ranges of a glacial river valley. Each weekend involves your regular old constants of camping - setting up tents, washing your face in the glacial river, singing around the campfire with friends. The coolest part though is that there is so much more. You take part in a traditional Witness ceremony, sing and dance some rocking Squamish tunes and learn about the history of the region from the newly formed Squamish Cultural Ambassadors. On top of all that each weekend provides a unique educational theme that ranges from forestry issues, to cedar weaving to collaborative art - there really is something for everyone!

So a little more background on what Uts'am is and where it came from. Uts’am is the Squamish word that roughly translates as Witness. Being called to Witness has long been a sacred honor and part of Coast Salish oral tradition. The role of the Witness is to listen and observe with their hearts and minds an event that is to take place, and then carry what they experienced and felt back to their community. Taking on the role of witness
means that they have the responsibility to be called back to share everything that they heard and saw, an important part of oral tradition societal life. Today however, the Witness weekends are a unique and powerful way that the Squamish people are keeping their traditions alive. It's about building bridges with the other communities who now share their traditional land so that we can all gain from shared understandings, common experience and the joys of having fun and sharing a river sandbar camping together.

 

Learn more about Ut’sam-Witness at

www.utsam-witness.ca



Other Links:
www.integralworld.net/
www.sriaurobindosociety.org.in


John Scheunhage

is a blisssologist
living la vida
integral

john_scheunhage@hotmail.com


Ask people who have been and often you’ll find that the power of a Witness weekend is also much, much more than just the activities that took place. It's just like how the asanas in a class are so much more than what we know our yoga practice to be and why it's important in our lives. As for Witness, there is something special about being part of a diverse group of people all taking the time to open their minds and hearts to learn from each other and from the wisdom of the Squamish people and traditions, all the while getting out into nature’s backyard, breathing fresh air and drinking clean river water.

The Witness experience calls people who like to experience new things and aim to live an
integral life connected to the environment and people around them. This approach jives with the spirit of the great 20th century yoga master Sri Aurobindo. His teaching of integral yoga celebrated the importance of world affirmation and showed that inner transformation towards ultimate consciousness can be explored through everyday life. It is also for those of your who want to learn more about the rich and living traditions and lands of the First Nations people who have called this region home for thousands of years. If

this resonates, Witness is made just for you! As Ken Wilber, a leading voice for an integral approach to life, has stated, "If you have found something shared by most or even all humans, you have probably found something of profound significance." If you take the chance, just like you did in your first yoga class, attending a Witness weekends might just create the space for you to have such a connection. See you on the sandbar.